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Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene Historic District , Brooklyn
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that stands today in the center of Fort Greene Park is a 1908 memorial to the 11,000 men and boys who died in horrid conditions on the British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War. The Monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after Gernal Putnam. The Monument you see today is actually the third incarnation of this sacred shrine. The story of the horrid Prison Ships – and the ghastly conditions suffered by the men and boys imprisoned on them during the Revolutionary War – is one of the most disturbing chapters in American history.
During the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the British arrested scores of soldiers, sailors, and private citizens on both land and sea. Many were apprehended simply because they would not swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Besides American civilians and resistance fighters, the British captured the crews of foreign ships on the high seas, especially Spanish vessels. The soldiers, sailors and civilians they arrested were deemed by the British to be prisoners of war and were incarcerated. When the British ran out of jail space to house their POWs they began using decommissioned or damaged war ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay as floating prisons.
Life was unbearable on the prison ships, the most notorious of them being the Old Jersey – which was called "Hell" by the inhabitants. Disease was rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the living conditions were horrendously overcrowded and wretched. If one had money they could purchase food from the many entrepreneurs who rowed up to the boat to sell their wares. Otherwise, the meager rations would consist of sawdust laden bread or watery soup.
A great number of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay. Even thought the British surrendered at Yorktown. Virginia in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783, when the British abandoned New York City. (A footnote: after the war, the British Commander in charge of the Prison Ships was brought up on war crimes charges and was subsequently hanged.)
The "Old Jersey"
In the years following the war the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island. These remains were collected by Brooklynites with the hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains of the brave Prison Ship Martyrs. In the early 1880's the first Martyrs Monument monument was erected by the Tammany Society of New York. It was located on a triangular plot of land near the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront in what is now called Vinegar Hill.
By the 1840s, the original monument was in a state of disrepair and neglect. By 1873 a large stone crypt was constructed in the heart of what is now Fort Greene Park (then called Washington Park), and the bones were re-interred in the crypt. A small monument was erected on the hill above the crypt.
By the close of the 19th century, funds were finally raised for a grander more fitting monument for the Prison Ship Martyrs. The prestigious architectural firm of McKim. Meade and White was commissioned to design the large 148 ft. tower which stands today in the park. It was unveiled in 1908 with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by President-Elect Taft.
Sadly, over the ensuing decades the monument was severely neglected. Due to shortage of public funds, urban blight and lack of community interest both the park and the memorial fell into disrepair. The monument originally housed a staircase and elevator to the top observation deck, which featured a lighted urn with a beacon of light which could be seen for miles. The elevator was operational until the 1930s but was unfortunately removed by the city in the early 1970s.
Since it founding in 1998, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy has been a catalyst for the restoration and revival of both the monument and the park. In November 2008 a grand weekend event is planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the 1908 Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial.
Sonoma, CA – Lighting up metal textures with a flash never seems to get old - especially when taken in black and white. It was an overcast, rainy drizzle of a day. Not the most ideal for photography, so the weather added some challenges. This cloudy dark day did benefit in some ways; it acted like nature’s soft-box so shadows were virtually nonexistent. Trying to make even the most ordinary and boring objects and them seem interesting through photography has been an exercise of mine for several years. I’m not often successful but it doesn’t deter me from trying. Soon after this photograph was taken. I had a really good sandwich.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
Thank God for this sign.
Please note that it's not like this *used* to be a road at any time. It's never been a road. Ever. Also, you'd have to drive over a giant curb to even get up there. Also, there's another "road closed" sign on the right because it's obviously such a temptation that they need to tell you twice.
While having our son evaluated for autism, and still awaiting a diagnosis, we've learned a lot about the disorder.
We've learned that the majority of states do not require insurance companies to recognize the disorder, thus allowing coverage to be nonexistent. Local, government resources are the only option for those unable to pay for expensive private institutions.
We've learned that we knew almost nothing about Autism; most people are the same.
Anyone who wants to learn about the disorder can visit www.autismspeaks.org/
You can actually watch videos of typical children side-by-side with autistic children at different stages of development and see what some of the signs are.
BOX DATE: 2011
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
DOLLS IN PACK: Ghoulia, Draculaura, Cleo
BODY TYPE: 2008; molded dot panties; articulated elbows, wrists, & knees
HEAD MOLD: 2008 "Ghoulia"; pierced ears
PERSONAL FUN FACT: The very first time I acknowledged Monster High dolls was back in 2011, and this Ghoulia was one of the dolls. That fall, sometime in October, my dad took me out to a neighboring state to look at some Bratz dolls that were listed on Craigslist. The lady selling the dolls said that her daughter wanted to make room/money for her Monster High collection. At the time, I had only been collecting dolls again for several months. So my knowledge of Monster High dolls was virtually nonexistent. While we were sitting on this woman's couch, looking at the huge hoard of Bratz dolls (which Dad did buy me), I spotted three Monster High dolls on the mantle--the 2011 Go Team!!! pack. I was secretly intrigued about these strange dolls right then and there. But I had more important, Bratz related things to worry about. It might have taken me two years from that moment to start collecting Monster High dolls myself, but that first encounter never strayed far from my mind. Ever since, I've always wanted those three dolls. No matter how many Monster High dolls I found at stores or at flea markets, my collection never quite felt complete without the original Go Team!!! set. In 2016, I found this Ghoulia doll at my local flea market. Since the seller had so many Monster High dolls at the time, and being that they were $5 each, I left this Ghoulia behind the first time I saw her. But deep down, I knew I had made a mistake. In fact, this Ghoulia made an appearance in one of my dreams, and I actually forgot I had left her behind...I confused myself into thinking I had grabbed Ghoulia. I was very grateful the next weekend to find that she had not sold. I had only left her behind the first time due to limited funds and the fact that her Cleo and Draculaura counterparts were nowhere to be found. But deep in my heart, I knew that THIS Ghoulia was meant to be mine. I almost felt like I was abandoning my own doll when I left her behind the first time. Even though I may not have Cleo or Draculaura at this time, I guess it is fitting that it was Ghoulia that I found first. After all, Physical Deaducation, Go Team!!!, and Dead Tired Ghoulia were some of the first Monster High dolls that cemented themselves into my memory and captured my attention. Ghoulia will always have a special place reserved in my heart, and in my collection, and it feels so right finally owning the Go Team!!! doll.
In August 2009, members of civil society organization Las Abejas (The Bees) demonstrated in the streets and stood in front of the Cathedral of San Cristobal de Las Casas to protest the decision of the National Supreme Court of Justice. The Court had ruled in favor of the release of dozens of perpetrators of the Acteal Massacre, identified by survivors as paramilitaries.
The sentence extended the impunity and nonexistent investigation into the “masterminds” of the Acteal Massacre, all of them government officials at the time: President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon; Emilio Chuayfett, Secretary of the Interior; Mario Renan Castillo, Commander of the Seventh Military Region; General Enrique Cervantes, Secretary of National Defense; Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, Governor of the State of Chiapas; Homer Tovilla Cristiani, Secretary of the State Government of Chiapas; Uriel Jarquin Galvez, Undersecretary of the Government of the State of Chiapas, among others.
The massacre took place at a camp of people displaced by the paramilitary violence in the area, as documented in previous reports. According to witnesses, people had to leave their communities because of death threats and physical attacks received. The looting and burning of homes was committed by members of the community, including some family members manipulated by agents of the army, who would later form part of the paramilitary group that perpetrated the Massacre of Acteal.
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
Bigos is a Polish stew, made of all the things you see here (except the meat is usually not soy-based). I chopped all these vegetables and put them in that huge black turkey roaster you see to the right, where they heaped to about three centimetres above the rim (it ended up with two more packets of tomato paste). I had trouble lifting it myself when it was finished.
I planned a big birthday party for the 19th for a long and convoluted reason: Jules wanted us to go to Berlin for his cousin's birthday on the 26th (my birthday is the 27th), so I moved to the 12th, and then Jules had another friend's birthday party on that weekend, so I moved to the 19th, and then found out another colleague had a conflicting party, and then I said, "Fuck it." (The funny postscript is that then Jules didn't get around to organizing the Berlin trip on my birthday weekend.)
So we invited about a hundred people. And let me tell you, I am never going to try to organize a large party with Germans again: the basic principles of courtesy, such as responding to RSVPs, are largely nonexistent in this culture, so I spent days frantically chasing people down to find out if they were going to allow me to cook for them for a week, which was extremely frustrating--mind, there were always nice Germans who not only RSVPed but asked if I needed things or help.
We spent about two hundred euro on food and supplies, though a lot of it can be kept for later (chips, flour, pop, napkins, etc.).
I started preparing Monday night...
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
The bus stops are kinda cool. Incidentally I also declared that day officially the last day of this nonexistent summer.
Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene Historic District , Brooklyn
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that stands today in the center of Fort Greene Park is a 1908 memorial to the 11,000 men and boys who died in horrid conditions on the British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War. The Monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after Gernal Putnam. The Monument you see today is actually the third incarnation of this sacred shrine. The story of the horrid Prison Ships – and the ghastly conditions suffered by the men and boys imprisoned on them during the Revolutionary War – is one of the most disturbing chapters in American history.
During the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the British arrested scores of soldiers, sailors, and private citizens on both land and sea. Many were apprehended simply because they would not swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Besides American civilians and resistance fighters, the British captured the crews of foreign ships on the high seas, especially Spanish vessels. The soldiers, sailors and civilians they arrested were deemed by the British to be prisoners of war and were incarcerated. When the British ran out of jail space to house their POWs they began using decommissioned or damaged war ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay as floating prisons.
Life was unbearable on the prison ships, the most notorious of them being the Old Jersey – which was called "Hell" by the inhabitants. Disease was rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the living conditions were horrendously overcrowded and wretched. If one had money they could purchase food from the many entrepreneurs who rowed up to the boat to sell their wares. Otherwise, the meager rations would consist of sawdust laden bread or watery soup.
A great number of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay. Even thought the British surrendered at Yorktown. Virginia in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783, when the British abandoned New York City. (A footnote: after the war, the British Commander in charge of the Prison Ships was brought up on war crimes charges and was subsequently hanged.)
The "Old Jersey"
In the years following the war the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island. These remains were collected by Brooklynites with the hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains of the brave Prison Ship Martyrs. In the early 1880's the first Martyrs Monument monument was erected by the Tammany Society of New York. It was located on a triangular plot of land near the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront in what is now called Vinegar Hill.
By the 1840s, the original monument was in a state of disrepair and neglect. By 1873 a large stone crypt was constructed in the heart of what is now Fort Greene Park (then called Washington Park), and the bones were re-interred in the crypt. A small monument was erected on the hill above the crypt.
By the close of the 19th century, funds were finally raised for a grander more fitting monument for the Prison Ship Martyrs. The prestigious architectural firm of McKim. Meade and White was commissioned to design the large 148 ft. tower which stands today in the park. It was unveiled in 1908 with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by President-Elect Taft.
Sadly, over the ensuing decades the monument was severely neglected. Due to shortage of public funds, urban blight and lack of community interest both the park and the memorial fell into disrepair. The monument originally housed a staircase and elevator to the top observation deck, which featured a lighted urn with a beacon of light which could be seen for miles. The elevator was operational until the 1930s but was unfortunately removed by the city in the early 1970s.
Since it founding in 1998, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy has been a catalyst for the restoration and revival of both the monument and the park. In November 2008 a grand weekend event is planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the 1908 Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
artefacts from the Spanish presence in the Philippines (the Spanish East Indies) and engagement in trade with China.
Spanish interest in the (Spanish East Indies) region was primarily focused on its use as a base for trade with East Asia, and large parts of the territory were under loose or nonexistent Spanish control.
Museo Naval, Madrid
29 November 2012
camera Panasonic DMC ZS8
P1140798
I'm gobsmacked by several things here. First, the light was nonexistent. Yet the Sony A7RII performed extremely well at incredibly high ISO. Second, using knowledge developed around a digital Zone System, I knew precisely where I wanted the tonal values and was able to place them accordingly. Third, I am happy to confirm the dynamic range of the sensor extends usefully to below Zone 0 (Zone -2!), even at such high ISO settings. Fourth, 1950s German optics can do the trick. These images were made using a triplet wide angle. Who would design such a thing and make it work? Micro-contrast is something to be seen, otherwise you wouldn't believe it.
A simple selfie taken using the Therm-App Pro using a 13mm f/1.0 lens. The depth of field is quite small (almost nonexistent, in fact), but look at the sharpness of the eyebrows and the bridge of my spectacles. Who'd have thought we'd have got thermal cameras to the stage where we can start considering the bokeh of germanium lenses?
There is one dead pixel visible just beside my chin. I'll sort that out in due course.
So, then, it's worth asking the question why the Nebraska State Troopers are going to the trouble of putting up fake signs advertising nonexistent interstate highway traffic checkpoints so they can con people into pulling themselves over. The answer to that question is right here in this sign I photographed in western Colorado the day before. That's the sign for the Tumbleweed Dispensary, a business selling recreational marijuana in De Beque, Colorado. As has been discussed often all over the internet, the sale and use of recreational marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2014.
Recreational marijuana is not legal in Nebraska, though, and Nebraska's just the kind of Puritan state that wants to stamp out anything a person might do to make existing in Nebraska more tolerable. So they have waged a well-advertised war of questionable Constitutionality against cars with out-of-state license plates coming into Nebraska from Colorado. They've devoted tons of Nebraska state trooper resources to stemming the cannabial tide and stopping anybody they can come up with any reason to stop. If you're a car with an Illinois plate passing east through Nebraska after having been in Colorado, you do not want to speed. They will get you.
Now, You'll notice I took this picture from the highway after not stopping at the Tumbleweed Dispensary. I've never been in a marijuana dispensary in Colorado, and I certainly wouldn't have gone on this trip, because recreational marijuana was a month from becoming legal in Illinois. If I really wanted some pot, I'd have waited a month and gotten some at home. But the State Troopers had their scheme, and they were going to go through with it. I don't know how much a Nebraska State Trooper makes an hour, but the State of Nebraska wasted about 40 minutes of that mucking around with us, and they got absolutely nothing for it.
This is a completely out of focus shot of an LED strip. By setting the f-stop low and focusing to a (nonexistent) object that should be very far away, everything else in the photo becomes very blurry, giving it the light bokeh. This is also poorly composed because there is no symmetry nor can you understand the perspective of this shot.
Art Education
With ever increasing cutbacks in public school systems, formal art education is in decline or nonexistent. The current state of our economy proposes that art education and the arts are an extravagance we cannot afford. But studies have proven that education in the arts promotes greater success in other academic areas and results in students having a better understanding of problem solving and boosts morale. We ask our panelists and the audience how has art education enhanced and improved your life and what can we do to ensure that our children have the same rewards and benefits?
Amber Clark (M), Alisa Gray, Brenda Carre, John R. Gray III, Margaret Organ-Kean
Artist's Perspective
09 July 2013 -- 190/365
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Taking advantage of a cool, overcast morning that would not result in heavy beach traffic, I headed to the Point Judith Lighthouse hoping to find some surfers. The water was flat and the surfers nonexistent, however I did spot this artist setup on a hill to sketch the Coast Guard headquarters at the lighthouse. That jet black umbrella she setup dominated the hazy sky, but it did serve its purpose in preventing any glare from hitting her sketch board. Her sketch at this point was so faint that only a hint of shape was taking place on the paper, and given the lighting, that was not going to appear in the photo.
Post processing started with a neutral greyscale filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted the color sensitivity sliders, followed by adaptive exposure, and contrast. In PSE I added a dodge and burn combination on the umbrella to at least bring out a hint of the spokes; it was jet black before any processing. I also added a levels adjustment and a sepia photo filter.
Taken in 2012.
Prtince Street in Soho. When I first saw this area in the 1970s, crowds like this were unknown and shops like these (Calvin Klein, Michael Kors) were nonexistent. It was already called Soho -- the name was coined in 1968 but had little cachet before the 80s. I remember once coming down here from midtown, eating at a restaurant on Spring Street (a block from here) that I'd read about in the Times, and then walking down to a photo exhibit at a gallery on White Street in Tribeca. There was nothing to see along the way.
Chicago politics, where voting is such a revered civic duty that people do it even after they're dead, cold, stiff, stuffed, boxed and buried beneath the permafrost for years, has now come to D.C. with the Obama administration.
This afternoon comes the most encouraging economic news, courtesy of our keen-eyed buddy Rick Klein over at ABC, that the Obama administration's $787-billion economic stimulus has, for example, thankfully created 30 new jobs in a little-known rural corner of Arizona at a cost to American taxpayers of only $761,420.
That works out to only $25,380.67 spent to create each individual job.
Seems like a lot per slot, but those 30 folks must be happy to be employed again and paying taxes.
This will be a real feather in the cap of Vice President Joe Biden, who's been left behind and assigned by the ever-campaigning president to monitor the stimulus plan, its spending and effectiveness moving into the crucial midterm elections of 2010. Might the Democrats snatch that House seat?
So the people of that 15th Congressional District in staunchly Republican Arizona should be pretty happy about this.
Trouble is, there is no 15th Congressional District in Arizona. None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Doesn't exist. Not in Arizona. Not even on paper at the Democratic National Committee. There are only eight. Period.
But the administration's much-vaunted recovery.gov website reported these jobs as being created there.
Could well be a computer glitch. Lord knows humans would never make such a dumb, misleading mistake, even in politics.
But then the trouble is that just months after grandly unveiling the recovery.gov website to showcase its economic prowess and tech-savvy, the Obama administration just spent 18 million additional taxpayer dollars to redesign the still new website.
And that site proudly also reported nonexistent new stimulus spending not just in Arizona but other states across the country.
So that looks to have worked pretty well, at least if you're counting computer designer jobs created.
Anyway, how do you think the 15th will vote next year?
-- Andrew Malcolm
i suppose they thought this a "creative" cover but note the mirrored cracks in the wall: this was actually printed on a narrow strip of green-painted stucco after Jones' death, a highly unlikely portrait of him against this nonexistent "wall". typical journalistic procedures.
Marsh Master Guide Service
Leeville, Louisiana
on Bayou LaFourche
LaFourche Parish
Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.
Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.
Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.
In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.
There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.
from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM
June 24, 1952: EYE CANDY FOR ANN ARBOR POLITICAL JUNKIES: The man standing in the doorway at left is a real Looker, for sure. No, really! His name was Fred J. Looker, and he was our town's City Clerk as far back as I could remember -- from the dawning of my awareness, and for years thereafter. In this ceremonial photo from the archives of the old "Ann Arbor News," Looker is turning over the keys to the Sixth Ward Polling Place, a small building then on Forest Avenue (but now the rerouted end of Washtenaw), where residents of that now-nonexistent ward voted in several elections and primaries each year. Recipient of the keys on this day was Col. R. M. Lawson (at right), the head of Army and Air Force recruiting in Michigan. This was a more visible office for local recruiters, who formerly had been in the basement of the Armory downtown. Here they would be closer to the target population of young men, many of whom attended the University. The recruiters promised to vacate the premises on polling days, by terms of a rent-free agreement with the city. A new city charter, adopted in 1955, eliminated wards six and seven, changing to a system of five wards, shaped like wedges of a pie. This building was converted to a residence long ago, and extensively remodeled in recent years.
Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene Historic District , Brooklyn
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that stands today in the center of Fort Greene Park is a 1908 memorial to the 11,000 men and boys who died in horrid conditions on the British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War. The Monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after Gernal Putnam. The Monument you see today is actually the third incarnation of this sacred shrine. The story of the horrid Prison Ships – and the ghastly conditions suffered by the men and boys imprisoned on them during the Revolutionary War – is one of the most disturbing chapters in American history.
During the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the British arrested scores of soldiers, sailors, and private citizens on both land and sea. Many were apprehended simply because they would not swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Besides American civilians and resistance fighters, the British captured the crews of foreign ships on the high seas, especially Spanish vessels. The soldiers, sailors and civilians they arrested were deemed by the British to be prisoners of war and were incarcerated. When the British ran out of jail space to house their POWs they began using decommissioned or damaged war ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay as floating prisons.
Life was unbearable on the prison ships, the most notorious of them being the Old Jersey – which was called "Hell" by the inhabitants. Disease was rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the living conditions were horrendously overcrowded and wretched. If one had money they could purchase food from the many entrepreneurs who rowed up to the boat to sell their wares. Otherwise, the meager rations would consist of sawdust laden bread or watery soup.
A great number of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay. Even thought the British surrendered at Yorktown. Virginia in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783, when the British abandoned New York City. (A footnote: after the war, the British Commander in charge of the Prison Ships was brought up on war crimes charges and was subsequently hanged.)
The "Old Jersey"
In the years following the war the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island. These remains were collected by Brooklynites with the hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains of the brave Prison Ship Martyrs. In the early 1880's the first Martyrs Monument monument was erected by the Tammany Society of New York. It was located on a triangular plot of land near the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront in what is now called Vinegar Hill.
By the 1840s, the original monument was in a state of disrepair and neglect. By 1873 a large stone crypt was constructed in the heart of what is now Fort Greene Park (then called Washington Park), and the bones were re-interred in the crypt. A small monument was erected on the hill above the crypt.
By the close of the 19th century, funds were finally raised for a grander more fitting monument for the Prison Ship Martyrs. The prestigious architectural firm of McKim. Meade and White was commissioned to design the large 148 ft. tower which stands today in the park. It was unveiled in 1908 with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by President-Elect Taft.
Sadly, over the ensuing decades the monument was severely neglected. Due to shortage of public funds, urban blight and lack of community interest both the park and the memorial fell into disrepair. The monument originally housed a staircase and elevator to the top observation deck, which featured a lighted urn with a beacon of light which could be seen for miles. The elevator was operational until the 1930s but was unfortunately removed by the city in the early 1970s.
Since it founding in 1998, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy has been a catalyst for the restoration and revival of both the monument and the park. In November 2008 a grand weekend event is planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the 1908 Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial.
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
Somewhere in the late 18th century, the cultivation and marketing of tobacco marks the development of the site. Therefore beneficial, reconstruction of the settlement we now call "Old Town".
A small crosses from the modern city and go to the stone-built streets of a dream state. One moment only and the time course of changes. Migrates in the past, the aesthetics of a prior era when houses were writing their history with a personal touch. Walking to the Old Town meet the Municipal Art Gallery , the Folk Museum, the Cathedral Square and other important buildings and of course ... people who are distant, but have the sun in the eyes and the friendliness of the soul ... A "good morning" that is warmer and the intimacy ...
The Old Town is preserved village, well preserved and enviable example of urban planning. Has a human face, the houses seem to talk to each other, their voices filled the streets and courtyards.
Small gardens where the honeysuckle few passerby and Jasmine boasts its flowers, gates vying for the appearance of the railing, doors, carved by skilled carpenters - a feast of creation ...
The colors of the houses, the first family of landscape, distances nonexistent, direct communication. And it is truly wonderful to see more children playing in the streets and women to sit on street corners chatting everyday. If you want to feel carefree, to enjoy a peaceful stroll, chewing sweets or eating ice cream, but with eyes enriched architectural beauties , move the square Antique for a trek in the past.
George Quinones as Pole Scavenger, Liam Day as Scavenger Guard, Lance Herota as Pole Walker, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes - The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 7 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
RICK AND JADIS REDUX
Last week Rick found himself trapped again by Jadis and her group of garbage dump-dwellers, and “Time for After” checks in with the pair throughout its running time. Rick is routinely trotted out half-naked from a shipping container to be photographed by Jadis for “sculpting” purposes, and is flatly ignored when he offers her a deal. The situation comes to a head when Jadis finally decides to execute Rick by putting him up against another gladiator-style walker with a spike-ridden helmet, similar to the battle he faced last season. It’s another effective Mad Max-style sequence, building on Jadis’ cult-like ritualism and offbeat linguistic quirks. Rick, of course, manages to turn the walker against Jadis to coerce her into negotiating, and she finally agrees to help — on the condition that she get one-fourth of the Saviors’ supplies.
While his gambit was successful, I was left scratching my head as to why Rick would go to such great lengths to add Jadis’ group to his coalition when it’s clear they cannot be trusted and will likely only betray him again. It would seem easier to enlist Oceanside’s all-female militia instead — something that may very well happen in the future. But Jadis, who has long since overstayed her welcome on the show, has become another novelty character with a nonexistent backstory that can no longer really be excused.
Whatever the show has planned for her and Rick, it may not matter much. In the final scene of “Time for After,” Rick leads Jadis and some of her people to a water tower to scout out the Sanctuary. They discover Daryl’s truck smashed into the building, with the walkers nowhere to be found. Whether Eugene succeeded and Negan is now free, or if this is just the aftermath of Daryl’s plot, is left unclear. But in the final close-up, it’s obvious Rick is not happy, as actor Andrew Lincoln looks like he has just seen the world end.
Whenever we hear of dirty cops falsifying evidence, we ALL pay attention. Yet — when the city attorneys deliberately mislead the court, the Courts do NOT want to hear it and neither do the Bar Associations. So, who will police dirty city attorneys?
Generally — the city attorneys come armed with enormous budgets and start with reputation damage through their PR machines, hoping to distract the Truth from reaching an audience. This is strategic — by insulting the opponent, you now hear with a biased view.
When the San Francisco City Attorney sought to retaliate against black landlord, Anne Kihagi, who called them out on their misuse of the building department, they framed her as a slumlord. This made most people NOT listen to the truth and allowed the Court’s to disregard the law.
But in this case, look at ALL the pictures of this BLACK Landlord’s buildings– and see if she’s a Slumlord. The City Attorney made releases alluding to Ms. Kihagi being a slumlord, yet her buildings are better than 90% of the Condos in San Francisco. Why have we all not questioned that simple, irrational yet — intentionally biased and perverted insult. Ms. Kihagi is extremely proud of the beautiful buildings she owns and was offended by this insult — and trusts our intelligence as we can choose to see the pictures which speak louder than insults.
Normally we catch dirty cops on video, but we have to Read and Sort out the truth especially when it is being orchestrated through the legal process.
Should we NOT care when this dirty lawyering and ignorance of laws corrupts the legal system. How much pain is enough for the Courts to investigate the truth? Why has no one taken time to investigate these abuses? Ms. Kihagi is unveiling the dirtiest cover up and abuse of law with evidence. Yet — it’s all racially driven– and happening in one of the cities we consider “Forward” — so it gets less attention as we believe racial abuse only happens in the “Other” cities. Which is precisely why the City Attorneys and the Courts have failed to follow the law.
Ms. Kihagi, has been subjected to such treachery, and has vowed to be relentless until a true investigation into the more than 20 misrepresentations that were made are resolved.
We will detail over 20 violations of laws and misrepresentations — in a system that has enabled tenants to present false evidence — city attorney who knew the truth, but thought the means justified the end. This will stop — as we show you how more than $25 million has been at play and a ploy to forcibly take money from the black owner through ALL means possible.
Isn’t this another form of Slavery — the same attitude that prevailed and why slaves couldn’t own anything? It is the same reason why we are quick to believe that a BLACK LANDLORD must have done something wrong to be successful. But — we are challenging you to investigate the corruption in the City Attorney’s office and how the San Francisco Court has allowed them to get away with it.
This should be an easy challenge — let’s get past their game of tarnishing her reputation and now read the evidence of these tenants who lied to the courts with impunity. Let us look at one example that resulted in over $130,000 in penalties plus attorneys’ fees of six-times bonus for these same city attorneys.
In City of San Francisco v. Kihagi, deliberate one-sided focus on tenants’ allegations left Ms. Kihagi vulnerable, despite many questionable and even baseless accusations. In one instance, tenants were previously displaced on the basis of an owner move-in eviction (OMI). Under an owner move-in eviction in San Francisco, the property owner has the legal obligation to move into the evacuated unit for 36 months and is prohibited from offering a lease on this unit. The previous occupants found an ad on Craigslist for what they thought was the same unit they had once leased.
As a result, the City Attorney sent an investigator to an open house for this listing and found that this was not the same unit at all. The previous tenant even sent his own investigators and confirmed it was indeed a different unit. In fact, other tenants witnessed Kihagi living in the OMI-affected unit and the mob formed against Kihagi even hosted protest at her building. On Thursday, January 8, 2015, Deputy City Attorney Weiss emailed the former tenant: “Hi Kelly, we sent an investigator to the open house for the Craigslist advertised unit last night. Unfortunately, the unit being shown was Unit 3 which has no legal restrictions on it, as far as I know.” The City investigators were sent to snoop on Kihagi’s open house even though Kelly, the former tenant, already knew that it was not his unit; he had sent an email on Tuesday, January 6, stating “I’ll get a full report Wednesday once my friend gets done viewing.” Weiss and the former tenant were grasping at straws to amass valid claims against Kihagi, but they were not alone.
A separate January 8th email from Weiss to another deputy City Attorney, Victoria Weatherford, stated, “As I wrote to Kelly… our investigator reported that the unit being shown last night on 18th Street was unit 3, not Kelly’s.” This exchange reveals another member of the City Attorney’s Office was also apprised of its irrelevance.
Despite these confirmations, Mr. Weiss presented the Craigslist ad as evidence to show San Francisco Court’s Judge Bradstreet that Kihagi had not only displaced a tenant, but that the unit was being rented for a profit. Why would city attorney Weiss want the court to rely on such evidence while aware they did not stand for the proposition he was making? Why would the other deputy attorney Weatherford sit silently in court while such evidence was presented? This false testimony led to city being awarded about $130,000 in penalties and attorney fees of approximately $400,000 for an entirely nonexistent violation. This is only an example of numerous false evidences presented in this trial.
Yet — the court ignored the evidence and Ms. Kihagi now has to file an action against such practice which the courts know most people cannot afford to do. Why should anyone be subjected to such dishonest public officers?
Will you join us by taking action on this campaign?
campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/stop-dirty-s-f-city-a...
For information on Anna Kihagi please go to annekihagisf.com
First shots with Sony DSC-HX200V.
Another photo at 1X shows location telephoto shot was taken from.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
· Discarded cardboard boxes for transporting bikes on Amtrak, outside the Emeryville Amtrak station.
Some friends of mine were woken up in the middle of the night on Amtrak and told, on the basis of nonexistent policy, that they must remove (or buy two of these boxes for) their folded Brompton bicycles. The whole saga can be read here.
Update (18-Dec-2013): Amtrak policy clarification: folding bikes always allowed as carry-ons.
I went to Loch Ashie hunting photos of the wooden pier, to find the place a wreck, warning signs from Northern Scotland Water deterring people and animals from playing in the water, the pier nonexistent, several nice pines sadly fallen by the wayside, a small fuzzy dog who came up and said hello to me. The most interesting scene I could find was this, in the concrete water run-off.
Detail of water flowing around a submerged rock.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
Tous les jésuites du monde sont dans une obéissance absolue, et selon leur formule « S’abandonner comme un cadavre », ils sont comme des robots entre les mains de leurs chefs. Ils forment donc un corps militaire d’élite – à la fois prêtres et guerriers – présent dans tous les pays. C’est une armée démoniaque qui a investi la Terre, et la liaison des jésuites avec les Gris extraterrestres est plus que probable. Ils contrôlent les polices secrètes, les armées et les organismes internationaux.Les ténèbres les plus épaisses qui soient jamais sorties du puits de l'abîme.Le Grand Serment des Fils d’Ignace
Quand un Jésuite est sur le point de s’engager dans les niveaux plus élevés de l’Ordre, il s’agenouille sur une croix rouge devant le Supérieur. Il y a deux drapeaux devant lui, le drapeau jaune et blanc bien connu de la papauté, et le drapeau noir avec une dague et une croix rouge au-dessus d’un crâne, avec des tibias croisés. C’est celui de l’Ordre des Jésuites, conforme au symbolisme maçonnique du grade de maître. La signification des «deux drapeaux» est hautement initiatique. Sur le drapeau jésuite il est écrit : IUSTUM, NECAR, REGES, IMPIOS – l’extermination des rois, des gouvernements et des dirigeants impies – d’après les lettres INRI apposées sur la croix du Christ. Le supérieur de l’Ordre tend au novice élu parmi des dizaines de candidats un crucifix noir qu’il presse sur son cœur. Il lui présente ensuite une dague que le novice saisit par la lame nue et dont il presse la pointe contre son cœur.
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene Historic District , Brooklyn
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that stands today in the center of Fort Greene Park is a 1908 memorial to the 11,000 men and boys who died in horrid conditions on the British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War. The Monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after Gernal Putnam. The Monument you see today is actually the third incarnation of this sacred shrine. The story of the horrid Prison Ships – and the ghastly conditions suffered by the men and boys imprisoned on them during the Revolutionary War – is one of the most disturbing chapters in American history.
During the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the British arrested scores of soldiers, sailors, and private citizens on both land and sea. Many were apprehended simply because they would not swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Besides American civilians and resistance fighters, the British captured the crews of foreign ships on the high seas, especially Spanish vessels. The soldiers, sailors and civilians they arrested were deemed by the British to be prisoners of war and were incarcerated. When the British ran out of jail space to house their POWs they began using decommissioned or damaged war ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay as floating prisons.
Life was unbearable on the prison ships, the most notorious of them being the Old Jersey – which was called "Hell" by the inhabitants. Disease was rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the living conditions were horrendously overcrowded and wretched. If one had money they could purchase food from the many entrepreneurs who rowed up to the boat to sell their wares. Otherwise, the meager rations would consist of sawdust laden bread or watery soup.
A great number of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay. Even thought the British surrendered at Yorktown. Virginia in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783, when the British abandoned New York City. (A footnote: after the war, the British Commander in charge of the Prison Ships was brought up on war crimes charges and was subsequently hanged.)
The "Old Jersey"
In the years following the war the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island. These remains were collected by Brooklynites with the hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains of the brave Prison Ship Martyrs. In the early 1880's the first Martyrs Monument monument was erected by the Tammany Society of New York. It was located on a triangular plot of land near the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront in what is now called Vinegar Hill.
By the 1840s, the original monument was in a state of disrepair and neglect. By 1873 a large stone crypt was constructed in the heart of what is now Fort Greene Park (then called Washington Park), and the bones were re-interred in the crypt. A small monument was erected on the hill above the crypt.
By the close of the 19th century, funds were finally raised for a grander more fitting monument for the Prison Ship Martyrs. The prestigious architectural firm of McKim. Meade and White was commissioned to design the large 148 ft. tower which stands today in the park. It was unveiled in 1908 with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by President-Elect Taft.
Sadly, over the ensuing decades the monument was severely neglected. Due to shortage of public funds, urban blight and lack of community interest both the park and the memorial fell into disrepair. The monument originally housed a staircase and elevator to the top observation deck, which featured a lighted urn with a beacon of light which could be seen for miles. The elevator was operational until the 1930s but was unfortunately removed by the city in the early 1970s.
Since it founding in 1998, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy has been a catalyst for the restoration and revival of both the monument and the park. In November 2008 a grand weekend event is planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the 1908 Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial.
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Fortune Global Forum 2018
October 16th, 2018
Toronto, Canada
3:30 PM
THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY
The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.
Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim
Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay
Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase
Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune
A few months ago I found a perfectly preserved hermit crab at the beach that I guess became "freeze-dried" or something. I'm not exactly sure how it became so well preserved, but i'm just glad it did. There's no decay at all, and it just looks and feels like a rock. I guess the sand played a part in the preservation process too. I bet just like with home-done taxidermy with salt/borax, the sand absorbed all the moisture from the animal. The freezing temperatures all winter probably caused the decay to be almost nonexistent.
When love is nonexistent: Aesha Mohammadzai had her nose and ears cut off by husband and father-in-law after serving 5 months in Taliban jail. She tried to leave her husband.
When I was here, only upper classmen and grad students could live here. They were the only ones tough enough. In midwinter, the heat in these rooms varied from nonexistent to unbearable. Some kids would wear parkas 24-7, while others would have the windows wide open and would be nearly nude in the room. They've all been renovated now, and I noticed they even have AC!
When love is nonexistent: Aesha Mohammadzai had her nose and ears cut off by husband and father-in-law after serving 5 months in Taliban jail. She tried to leave her husband.
A pretty typical shot of a gondola in Venice. I like the way the composition turned out in this shot. Venice was so peaceful and quiet compared to the rest of Italy I saw. I liked how vehicles were nonexistent and all that was heard was the paddling of gondolas and engines of water buses.
Some of the thousand things Edison invented. In the foreground is a model of the Black Maria, a rotatable movie studio he built in West Orange, New Jersey in 1892. The roof opened and the building could be turned toward the sun to provide light for shooting all day. (Studio lighting was otherwise nonexistent.) Nearby are a phonograph and a movie projector.
Originally posted in 2005.